Stranded Enemies
by PolHop
Summary: What happens when Derek and Penelope are stranded together in an unfortunate snowstorm? Problem is: THEY HATE EACH OTHER. After some interesting challenges that arise, what happens when they put aside their differences and show their inner selves? Does love finally shine through?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Like I said before I wasn't planning on writing anymore stories. That's how angry I still am at the show… But after yesterday I kind of got the bug in me again to write. Now I have TONS of started stories on my computer. This is one of those… but instead of a started story it was almost a full outline (something I never do). I have ALWAYS wanted to write a story where Penelope and Derek HATE each other in the beginning. This is the start of one of them.**

 **Let's see where this takes us.**

 **T rating for now but if you want it more, and I have enough people that do I will think about a rating change.**

* * *

Garcia stared at Morgan as he crossed his arms over his chest demanding for her to move. Who the hell did he think he was? It was bad enough she had to go on this case with the team in the middle of nowhere Montana, but having Morgan there at every turn was making her want to pull her hair out. Since his start three years ago in the BAU, they had never gotten along. She took one look at him and realized what a player he was. And she wanted _noting_ to do with him. That was only solidified, when within the first five minutes of meeting her, he hit on her. _Pig._ And if he thought she was going to move, he had another thing coming.

She tried to take a deep breath and regain her composer when he took a step forward, using his body to try and intimidate her. That was it. "Agent Morgan, if I were you I'd back away now, she growled.

"Make me," he said moving closer to her while getting into her personal space. Without thinking she took her full -piping hot- coffee and tossed it on him, right in the crotch. "You misogynistic pig," she shouted.

He jumped back trying to wipe the scolding liquid from his lap. "You vapid bitch," he sneered. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem," she asked. "It's your fault we are even here."

"My fault?" he questioned. "I didn't lose your _precious_ external hard drive. What tech can't keep track of their shit?"

She glared at him. "You were in charge of packing the equipment in the SUV to bring it here this morning," she said.

"And I packed everything that you had in the pile. _You're_ the one who didn't put it in there."

"Whoa," Hotch said making his way into the office. "What is going on here?"

"Agent Morgan is trying to sabotage my work here," Garcia exclaimed.

"She's lying. She's just pissed she forgot her shit and is blaming me. And to top it off she threw hot coffee all over me," Megan growled, as he continued to wipe his lap of the liquid.

Hotch looked at the coffee on Derek's pants and shook his head. "Enough," he said. "Garcia, what is it you need?"

"My hard drive," she answered.

"And you can't find it?"

"No," she said. "It was in the pile of stuff to bring. Morgan left it on purpose."

"It wasn't there," Morgan defended.

Hotch took a deep breath. "Morgan, go back to the cabin and change, take Garcia with you so she can look for the hard drive."

"I can drive myself," Garcia protested. Hotch glared at her, causing her to keep her to not say anything else.

"We don't have time for this. There is a huge snow storm headed our way and we have work to do. I need you both to get your acts together, or I will be filling formal complaints with the Director." With that Hotch left the room, annoyance written all over him.

"Good going, Garcia," Morgan said.

"Shove it," Garcia replied. She moved past him. Today was not going to be a good day.

XXXX

The snow was falling as they made their way back to the cabin. Unfortunately, it was so rural, they were all forced to share an old hunting cabin that one of the officers owned. Thankfully, it was one of the bigger one and had enough rooms for each of them. Reid was the only one with the short straw and had to sleep on the couch.

"The snow is really coming down," Morgan said.

Garcia turned to him, giving him a "duhh" look. "I can see why you're a profiler," she remarked.

"Why are you such a bitch?" he asked.

"Why are you such a pig?"

"I don't get it, Garcia, you're a happy go lucky decent human being anytime you're around the others," he said shaking his head.

"Yeah, so?"

"God, why are you such a bitch?" he asked again.

"Why are you a disgusting pig?"

"You know what? Forget it. Let's just get in there get your hard drive that _you_ left behind and I'll change. The faster we get back to the station the better."

She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked out the window watching the show cover the surrounding environment. "Agreed."

XXXX

Derek looked down at his watch. Forty-five minutes. That's how long Garcia was taking. He was about to lose it. She was so inconsiderate; didn't she understand they had a job to do? A job, they couldn't complete if they were still in the cabin, _away_ from the case?

When they got to their lodging, he made quick work of changing out of his ruined pants. Thankfully, it was so cold in Montana he had worn extra layers and his _pride and joy_ were not harmed in anyway. It took him all of ten minutes to be changed and ready.

Foolishly he thought Garcia would have just walked in and gotten what she needed. Nope. Apparently not.

Getting up from the couch he made his way to Garcia's room. "What the hell is taking you so long?" he asked.

"Screw off," she said, her voice clearly in a panic.

Morgan rolled his eyes. "Did you find it?"

Garcia stopped what she was doing and looked at him. "Don't you think if I had it, I would have said something already?"

"I don't know," he remarked. "Maybe you are the one who wants to sabotage me and my career?"

"You do that on your own," she said.

Taking a deep breath Morgan moved into her room. "What exactly are we looking for?"

Clearly, she was losing it herself, because instead of arguing with him, he was surprised when she looked at him, panic written in her eyes.

"What does it look like?" he asked, a little more gently.

"It's an orange box. Bright orange. It has all the case information in it," she said.

"How big is it?"

"Umm," she said as she moved over to her bag. Derek watched as she started pulling out her clothes tossing them throughout the room. He couldn't help but gape when she started throwing her bra and underwear around too.

"Here," she said. She held up a box a little bigger than a deck of cards. "It looks exactly this this one, but there is orange around it."

"And you're sure that one is not it," he asked.

"No," she answered. "This one is my personal hard drive. I make sure the ones I use for work have the orange on them."

He nodded. "Alright, let's take a look."

They both started looking around her room. After a few minutes, Morgan ventured out to the hall. On his way to the spot all the equipment was placed earlier that morning, something orange caught his eye. "Garcia!" he hollered. " _Garcia!"_

"Jeez," she said walking out of her room. "You don't have to yell."

Morgan bit his tongue. Crouching down, he pointed to the orange object that was under the hall table. "That it?"

Garcia ran to the spot, running into Morgan in the process. He ended up having to grab onto her hips so they wouldn't topple over onto the floor.

"That's it!" she squealed with delight.

Morgan reached for the hard drive under the table. His left hand still on Garcia's hip, keeping them both upright. Handing the hard drive to her, he asked, "Since we've got this now, you ready to head back?"

She nodded. "Let me just get my jacket." She stood up, jumping back from his hold on her, as if she had been burnt. Before walking away, she looked at him. Taking a deep breath, she held the hard drive to her chest. "I'm sorry."

He was in shock. She had never apologized for anything. At least not one that wasn't forced by Hotch. "It's okay," he said.

"No, it's not. I said you did this on purpose, but it must have slipped out of my hands when I was bringing the other stuff out to the pile."

He nodded, not knowing what else to say. This was new territory for them.

A few moments later they both made their way to the front door. Derek looked out the window and groaned. It was complete whiteout outside. Ignoring it, he opened the door. Only for about three feet of snow to meet them.

"Noooo!" Garcia cried. He watched as she reached for her phone frantically pacing as she tried to make a call. After a few seconds, she looked at him. "There's no service."

He was afraid this would happen when they left the police station earlier. Being stranded with Garcia was the last thing he wanted. That's why he wanted to get in and out. He took a deep breath and looked at her panicked face. "We are just gonna have to wait it out."

* * *

 _AN: okay…. So like I said I have the outline for this. I don't know if I'm really feeling it or not. So it's up to you guys. I mean there was a reason I never did it in the first place, so I guess it's up to you._

 _Continue or no continue?_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Whoa! Wow, the amount of support for this type of story blew my mind. Like I said, I had always wanted to write a story like this and this whole outline was done already…. Although, this chapter did not go according to the outline, but I like it nonetheless.**

 **Let me know if you are still down for a "hate you" story.**

 **-PolHop**

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This was not how Derek wanted to spend the rest of his day. Nothing could be worse than being stranded because of a snow storm with _Garcia._ He watched as she paced in front of him mumbling about how unfair this was, and how she didn't deserve to be stuck anywhere with him.

 _That got his attention._

What the hell was her problem? It wasn't like he planned this. Leave it up to her to think the world revolved around her and this was solely his fault they were stuck together.

"Of all people." He heard her say. That was his breaking point. "This isn't exactly a picnic for me, Garcia. I'd rather be stuck here with _anyone_ other than you," he snapped responding to her childish rant. A rant that she had taken upon herself to declare he was the one at fault for their unfortunate circumstance.

She glared at him, her nostrils flaring, as he eyes narrowed. "I just bet you would want to be here with anyone else. I'm sure if you take out your phone you have a list of at least fifty girls that would brave this storm just to be locked in here with you." She angrily placed her hand on her hip.

He opened his mouth to defend himself, but in reality, he was done with this. No matter what he did, Garcia always found fault with him. Since day one, he was never on her good side. At first he tried to make her like him, but it all became far too exhausting. In the end, he gave up. Just like he was doing right now. "You know what, Garcia, I think you're right." He pulled out his phone and started going through the contacts. "Tina." He growled deep in his throat. "She can suck the skin right off of you. Candy- she sure as hell tasted like candy. Monique- oh, now she had a little Domme in her. Before I knew it, _I_ was the one tied to the bed." He continued to scroll. "Can't forget Destiney- with her legs spread-"

"You're such a fuckin' pig," Penelope spat interrupting him, looking completely disgusted. She physically cringed at all of his conquests.

"I'm just doing what you suggested, Garcia. If you can't take it, get out," he replied rather smugly.

"You're such an idiot," she remarked. "First off, you can't call anyone, there is no service right now, jackass."

"Oh, but who said I was going to call them," he said. "Just remembering them will be enough to do the trick."

"You are absolutely disgusting." She turned away from him, making her way to the cabins kitchen. Derek not wanting this debate to end followed right behind her. "I don't think you believe that," he said. "I think you dream about how good I am in bed. That's the reason you're always so pissy. You know no man will ever measure up to _me_ and what you know I'm capable of. Problem is, sweetheart: I'd never been so desperate to _ever_ touch you."

She wasn't sure if it was the severity of the situation they were in regarding the storm, or if she had truly lost her mind, but his words stung. Actually, it was worse than just a sting. Those words were downright painful. Never in all the years she had known him and they had sparred had he ever said anything along those lines. Why _did it_ hurt? So, what if she wasn't like his normal bimbo, stick thin, dates? She was downright awesome. She was fun and beautiful. Screw him! "You know what your problem is?" she asked, moving closer to him.

"Please enlighten me."

"You think you are God's gift to woman, but in reality, you are nothing. You're a typical jock jerk. Believe me when I tell you this now, Derek Morgan. I will, and I repeat myself, I will never in a million years, ever let someone like you anywhere near me." She was now standing right in front of him. Her heels making her eye level, which was exactly what she wanted. She poked him in the chest. "You're pathetic. You're forty-two years old and have _nothing_ other than a career to show for it. No family. At forty-two most people would have already settled down, had a kid or two, but you no… and do you want to know why I think that is?" she asked before continuing. "You're a coward."

"You don't know anything," he spat grabbing her finger from his chest. Stepping back, he was no longer in her personal space.

"Oh," she said, a smirk washing across her face. "But I do know _you._ I know exactly the type of person you are. I have first hand knowledge –" she cut herself off realizing she had said too much. She took a step back from him, and took a deep breath. "We're done," she said as she turned and made her way down the hallway.

Derek watched as she turned on her heel and b-lined it down the hall to her room. Normally he would have jumped all over an opportunity like this. Who was she to jump down his throat about how _he_ was. He was pretty sure, she was up there in age with no family to show for it herself. But something inside of him stopped him from doing that. Instead he stared at the empty hallway that Garcia had just vacated. Taking his own deep breath, he wiped his hand over his face. This was going to be a long night. He looked out the window as the snow fell in droves. At least he hoped it would only last for one night.

* * *

 _AN: So much fighting. Are we still liking this type of story? My muse is kinda getting into it now, but you never know with her. Sometimes she just jumps ship._


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** **I love you all so much. All the support you give me is so amazing and it humbles me.**

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Penelope paced back and forth in her cabin room as she tried to wrap her head around the fact she was now stuck somewhere with a person she hated. After escaping into her room, she cleaned up the mess she had made looking for the hard drive. Now there was _nothing_ for her to do. With her phone still showing no service, she knew it was a lost cause to even try the satellite TV. Instead she continued to pace. What else could she do? Go out into the living room and _hang_ with Morgan? Over her dead body!

She made her way to the window. The storm had really set in. She knew it was sometime in the afternoon, but the storm clouds had made it look almost as if it were night outside.

 _Great!_

That was the absolute last thing she needed. At least the cabin still had power. Taking a deep breath, she made her way to the bedroom door, just as her stomach grumbled. She had skipped breakfast. Her plan was to grab something once they had gotten to the station. However, that was shot to hell the second she realized the hard drive was missing.

Glancing around the hallway, she saw no sign of Morgan. _Good!_

She made her way to the kitchen and started to raid the cabinets. Hotch had informed the officer that owned the cabin, they would be spending most of their time at the station and not to bother stocking any groceries, other than coffee. The officer, took that to heart. All she could find were two cans of coffee, and a box of Mac & Cheese. At least there was something.

She found a pot and start to boil the water.

Looking around, she saw no sign of Morgan anywhere. She assumed he must have gone back into his room.

 _I wonder what he is up to?_ She thought, then quickly dismissed it. She didn't care what he was up to.

The water started to boil so she added the noodles. She moved back to the fridge and pulled out some milk. Thankfully, Rossi refused to use cream in his coffee and requested a fresh gallon of milk.

"What to do? What to do?" she said as she turned back to the stove. Until the storm let up and they had service on their phones they were completely stuck.

The window in the Kitchen caught her eye. She made her way over to it and watch the show fall.

This was going to be a long night, but at least Morgan had decided to stay out of sight.

"What're you making?"

Penelope screamed as she turned to the sound of the voice, as she clutched her chest. "Don't sneak up on people!" she snapped, trying to catch her breath. _God, could he be more annoying?_

"I didn't sneak up on you," he answered. "I even stubbed my toe on the couch coming through the living room. How did you not hear me swear?"

She looked past him into the living room. She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't hear anything. "Well, I didn't hear you."

"That's not my problem, Garcia."

She glared at him, but he held up his hands in surrender. "Wait," he started. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I'm sorry I startled you. I think we are both on edge being in this situation."

She examined him looking for any sign of a lie in his words, but found none. "You're probably right," she said. She walked over to the pot, picked up the wooden soon she had found, a stirred the pasta. "All I could find was Mac & Cheese. When it finished cooking I was going to bring you a bowl."

He cocked his eyebrow, as a smile spread across his face. "Would you really have?"

She shrugged and then heard her own self laugh. "Probably not. But, I would have left you some in the pot."

He moved closer to the stove. "That's very generous of you."

"Ehh, what can I say? I'm a generous person."

With that they both stood there in silence as Penelope continued with the food. What else could she say to him? This was the first time they had ever been in a room together and they were _not_ fighting.

Derek moved to the fridge and looked inside. "No butter?" he asked.

She turned to him. "No, or I would have taken it out with the milk."

"That sucks, hopefully, it will taste good with just the milk in it."

"That's all we have so even if it doesn't taste good, you're shit out of luck," she sneered. Couldn't he just be happy she had found _something_ for them to eat?

"Hey, no need to be snarky. I was just asking a question," he said closing the fridge and making his way back to the stove.

"Yeah, well it was a dumb question," she replied.

She heard him take a deep breath before moving to the cabinet to the left of the stove. That's where he pulled out a strainer. He walked it over to the sink and then moved back to the stove to retrieve the pot. "Morgan, I am capable of straining pasta on my own."

"I didn't say you couldn't," he said, moving her out of the way while the noodles drained.

"I'm not helpless."

"Again, I never said anything of the sort."

"Whatever." She moved behind him and grabbed the milk. Derek placed the noodles back in the pot and moved it to the store where Penelope added the milk and cheese. She stirred the mixture together while Derek grabbed two bowls and spoons from another cabinet. Once the Mac & Cheese was done, she spooned out equal portions.

"You should probably put some of the back," he said.

She looked at him ready to spit fire. Was he telling her she needed to eat less?

"Whoa," he said. "I mean we don't know when we can get ahold of the team. This is all we have. We might need to make it last."

"Oh," she said. "No, you're right."

XXXX

They both took their food into the living room where they sat in silence as they ate. Derek looked out the window and winced. It was really getting bad out there. He quickly glanced around the room. They were not equipped the withstand being snowed in for days. There was no food, no reserve of water, and he had no idea where any other flashlights were. All he had where the ones he always carried with him.

Before he came out to investigate what the noise was in the kitchen he was lucky enough to find a small box that had the word _supplies_ on the side. No flashlights, but there were a few old candles and matches.

He looked at Penelope. She kept glancing around the room and then back at him. He would give anything to know what she was thinking at that exact moment. The look on her face was so intriguing. He decided to take a chance. Might as well do something to break up the time. Talking to Garcia was better than just sitting there in silence. "What's up?" he said.

She looked up from her food, her eyebrow cocked. "Uhh, what?"

He sat back in her seat. "What's up?" he said, again.

"Okay," she said. "I'll bite. I'm just, you know sitting here in a blackout snowstorm, with you."

He chuckled. "No, I already know that. I mean tell me something."

"Like what?" she asked.

"I don't know." He looked at her, maybe this was the fresh start they needed. Well, they would never be _friends_ but they could at least be better towards each other. Who knew? Maybe if he put on the charm and joked with her, the tension in the room would disappear. "Like tell me who you're dating or if you are dating. Is he any good in bed?" he asked trying to lighten the mood.

She dropped her spoon into her bowl and stared at him. Her expression was dark as she narrowed her eyes, her lips pursed and her nostrils flared. "What did you just ask me?"

He tried to laugh it off. "You know, just shooting the shit with you."

"Shooting the shit? And you think that is asking me who I am _sleeping_ with?"

He placed his bowl on the coffee table. "Well when you put it like that…"

"You are so unbelievable. I was so right about you. You are a freaking P. I. G!" She jumped to her feet.

Derek followed her movements. "Now wait a minute, Garcia, I didn't mean it like that. I was just jok-"

"I don't care how you _think_ you meant it. You are nothing but a vile, low- life, disgusting pig. Grow the frack up, Morgan." She turned to move down the hall.

"No, you wait, I was just joking," he said grabbing onto her arm to hold her back.

"Don't touch me!" she said, pulling her arm from his grasp. "Never touch me!"

"Whoa, calm the hell down!"

"I will not calm down!" she said. She ran from him and down the hall. He winced when he heard her door slam.

 _What the hell?_

Jesus, she was a piece of work. It really was a joke. There was nothing meant by it, but yet here she was doing exactly what she did best. Freaking out and the losing her shit. He rolled his eyes. This is exactly why he couldn't stand her.

He made his way to his room after taking his and Penelope's bowls into the kitchen. He spent the next few hours working out.

After cleaning up, he moved out of the bathroom and looked outside. It was pitch black. Shaking his head, he moved to his cloths and donned his boxers.

"Might as well try catch up on some sleep," he said, as he moved to the bed. He crawled under the sheets just as he heard a loud pop.

Everything went black.

Then he heard an earth-shattering scream come from Penelope's room.

* * *

 _AN: Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter. I'm really pushing past my anger with the show to try and write more. Also, sorry about my rant. Did you like this chapter?_


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Today was the last day I had for This round of submissions in my dream career. I've spent hours and hours doing it. All I can say is I'm putting it all out there and any good thoughts my way will really be appreciated. I'm gonna need them.**

 **FYI: as I was writing this... the power went out. HA HA!**

* * *

Derek took off in a flash to Penelope's room. He didn't know what was going to greet him when he got to her, but he'd make sure to protect her. It didn't matter their differences. She was a part of his team, and he swore since day one, he would do anything he needed in order to make sure _everyone_ in his team was safe. He ran as fast as his feet could take him. Throwing open in door he yelled for her, "Garcia? Are you okay?" When he heard nothing, he spoke louder, "Penelope, are you in here?"

Then from the corner of the pitch-black room he heard a muffled, "yes."

Doing his best to follow the voice he made his way over to where he thought she was. Unfortunately, he rammed knee first into what he assumed was the nightstand, seeing as he fell onto the bed. "Shit!" he grabbed onto his knee as he heard a mumbled whimper from next to him. Feeling around, he wanted to rejoice when he felt what he was sure was Garcia's phone. Pushing the button there was a soft glow that lit the small section of the room the phone was facing. Moving the device to where the sound had come from, he saw Garcia huddled in the corner. Her body shaking.

"Garcia?" he questioned, moving onto the bed to get closer to her. "Did something happen when the lights went out? Are you hurt?" From everything he had known about Garcia, this was something he was not prepared for. Sure, they had their differences – many, many differences- and if he had to choose one person to be locked in a cabin with, and the choice was between Garcia and the devil, he more than likely would have chosen the devil. But this, this wasn't the Garcia he knew. He shined the light on her face. Her eyes held pure terror, as tears fell. Her body was shaking so much so he could feel it through the bed. His heart broke. This wasn't the strong, witty, pain in his ass that loved nothing more than to go head to head with him.

Moving slowly as he had done, many times before with traumatized victims he moved his hand out to touch her. "Penelope," he spoke softly. "I'm going to touch your shoulder." He waited a beat before reaching out and lightly touching her shoulder. Much to his surprise, she yelled then jumped into his arms. Thank god he had quick reflexes or they would have been knocked off the bed and onto the floor. _Holy shit!_

"Penelope," he said trying to maneuver her off of his ribs but not succeeding. She clunged to him, crawling all over his body, trying to get closer. _What. The. Hell!_

"Penelope," he said again. "I need you to tell me no one else was in here with you or that you're not hurt."

He felt her nod in the crook of his neck. "Yes, to you not hurt and no one was in here?" he asked.

"No one," she mumbled into his neck. He felt her body continue to shake. _Okay, what in the world was going on?_ Sure, people can get scared, but this was way more than that. Trying to maneuver himself so Penelope was no longer kneeing him in the ribs he did his best to reposition them. _Okay, Morgan, this is new territory for both of you. Let's just take this one step at a time. It's kinda like defusing a bomb._

"Penelope," he spoke softly. "What's wrong? What happened?"

She said nothing.

 _New tactic._ Clearly, she wasn't inclined to speak to him. He moved the phone to view her. She had somehow managed to crawl on top of him, her butt on his lap and her knees on his chest. Her arms and head tucked into his body, as if she were a young child scared of a storm. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed onto her knee moving it slightly so it wasn't pushing into his ribs. At least that was taken care of now. He didn't know how much longer he could have taken that. Shaking away his distress, he moved his hand to her back and slowly started to stroke it. Not knowing what else to do, he cooed at her, "Shh, it'll be okay."

"It's so dark," she finally said.

He cocked his head to the side as his eyebrow rose. Was she afraid of the dark? No one is _this_ afraid of the dark. "I can take care of that," he announced. "I found some candles earlier. They are just out in the hall." He picked her up and placed her on the bed. He went to move away when her hand reached out and grabbed him. "No! Don't' go!"

He moved the light from the phone, still in his hand, onto her face. His heart broke in two looking at the panic that was written all over her. Thinking fast her handed her the phone. "Look down at this. I will be back before you can even count to five."

Not letting her protest, he removed her hand from his arm, hit the button on the phone and ran like hell into the hall. Thankfully earlier in the day he placed the supplies box right outside his room incase anything happened with the storm. If nothing did, he wanted to remember to inform the officer he needed at better supply kit.

As fast as he could and by memory alone he made it to what he thought was outside his room. He fell to his knees in search of the box. Moving his hands around he felt it. Jumping to his feet he ran back in the direction he had come from. Seeing the glow from the phone, he knew he was heading in the right direction.

"four… five." He heard the faint whisper of numbers.

"I'm back, Garcia," he said sliding into the room. "I'm here with candles."

"Candles?" She sounded so hopeful.

"Yeah," he said. "I found them earlier today." He felt around the box for the matches. Finding them, he lit the first one. Grabbing one the candles he lit it also. The room illuminated with a soft glow. Thankful for the light, he looked over to where Garcia was. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the candle as if it was her life line.

Watching her closely as she followed his movements, he lit two more candles and placed them around the room. He didn't quite know where to go from here. Should he mention what had just happened or should he grab some of the candles and head back to his room? Looking over at Garcia, he saw her quickly looking away from him. The covers pulled up around her. Clearly embarrassed. Taking pity on her, he decided he would leave and go back to his room. He didn't want him being there to cause her anymore embarrassment. They could talk about this in the morning, or not. It was up to her.

He stuck his hand in the box. "I'll just grab a few of these and head back to my room," he said.

He made it to the door before he heard her. "Uhh, Morgan, I mean, Derek." He turned towards her. The glow from the candles he had placed, warming her face. "Do you think, you could, umm…" She looked at the blankets next to her. Pulling them back he saw she was asking for him to get into bed with her. He looked to her face. Her emotions, clearly written there, embarrassment, discomfort, loss of dignity, panic, and what clenched his decision for him… fear. He straightened as he made his way over to the bed. He would always be there for his team, no matter what it was. He lifted the blanket and crawled in. _Okay, now what?_ he thought as he looked at the ceiling.

The room was dead silent. All he could hear were the sounds of him and Garcia breathing. He closed his eyes, trying to figure out what the hell had happened the last twenty minutes.

He opened his eyes when he heard Garcia clear her throat. "Do you always only wear just boxers to bed?"

He groaned at her accusatory tone. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

 _AN: I hope you liked it. What did you think?_


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey all! I hope you are doing super well! I wanted to get this out for some people that have been waiting for it… that being said… there are a few parts that don't really mesh with the shows time line but work here. Well isn't that why we write FF to begin with? So we can come up with our own stories? This might be a little dark for some people so read with caution.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

 **Love Polhop**

* * *

Penelope looked around the dark room only being illuminated by the candles. She had no idea how many hours had past, but she'd know it'd been quite a few. The candle closest to her were about three quarters of the way burned down. Thankfully her shaking had subsided. Even with that now under control she had an even bigger issue to deal with.

Derek Morgan.

Right now, Derek was laying right next to her, under the covers nonetheless. His leg, laid effortlessly along her own.

How was she ever going to explain all of this? Did she really even need to? She sighed. Yeah, there was no way should could pretend this didn't happen.

"Are you still up?" She heard him ask.

She could pretend she was asleep, but why bother? "Yeah," she spoke softly.

"Are you feeling better?" The concern in his voice made her want to cry. Here was her sworn enemy lying beside her with genuine concern for her.

"I, uh, it takes a while for me to truly feel better but I'm well on my way right now," she said honestly.

"I'm glad," he replied.

They both laid there silently for a few moments. The room was still dark but it was much more manageable now with the candles glowing. How was she ever going to explain all of this to him? Would he look at her differently? Laugh at her? Probably, that's exactly what her ex had done. She shivered.

"You cold?" he asked.

"Uhh, no," she said. "But uh, thank you. For everything."

She heard him take a deep breath. "It was really no big deal."

She turned so she was facing him. "You're wrong. To me it's a huge deal." She watched as he sat upright on the bed. He turned to her. His face was blocked from the darkness, but she could tell he had concern still marring his features.

"I don't think either one of us are going to get any sleep. Do you want to try and talk about it?"

She thought for a moment. He was right. Nights like this she never slept. Hell, she would be lucky if she slept at all the next few nights. "I guess," she answered.

He made himself more comfortable. She quickly did the same. However, she made it so her knee would be touching his. The _safe_ human contact seemed to help. Normally when this would happen she'd be in a panic for hours and hours. Somehow, though, Derek had made her feel more at ease. Safer.

"I thought someone had broken in here and tried to hurt you," he stated.

She looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry about that. It's just… I can't help it."

"What happened?" he asked softly.

She thought for a few moments, before taking a deep breath. "I do own you an explanation," she started. "I just don't even know where to begin."

She was startled at first when she felt his hand reach out for hers, giving it a slight squeeze. "How about the beginning?" he encouraged.

"Okay, so there once was these two hippies who liked to get it on-"

"Garcia," he warned.

"I know." She sighed. "I don't really know how much you know about me, but my parents died when I was eighteen."

"I had heard that." She felt him squeeze her hand again.

"Okay, well, do you know how they died?"

"No, only that they were no longer around."

She nodded, before taking a deep breath. "I was with them," she whispered. "I was in the car with them when we were hit. I was in the back seat. We were all arguing, actually more like screaming at each other. I had snuck out after curfew and gone to some stupid party. They found me and were bringing me home. Problem was, the party was secluded in the woods. You had to take dark windy roads to get there." She could feel the tears start to form. "One of the drunk kids I guess was leaving too or something, but he ended up slamming into the front of our car going 70 mph while my parents were doing under thirty. The car hit us so hard, my mother and father's bodies were…" She couldn't repeat it. The horror she saw that night haunted her memories.

"Penelope," Derek spoke softly, but she continued.

"I wasn't as badly hurt. I even was able to undo my seatbelt. I was screaming for my parents asking them to talk to me, move, to do anything, but I knew. I knew beyond a doubt they were gone, no body that was that mangled and twisted could have survived. I realized I needed to check on the other driver. There might have been a chance they were okay. There was already so much death. I needed that little bit of hope. My head was bleeding pretty bad and I had a broken arm, but my legs weren't pinned or anything. I managed to crawl out of the back window. I hobbled to the front of the car and looked into the lifeless eyes of my father. The father I had just told I hated. I made my way over to the other vehicle and saw the driver. He was almost unrecognizable. I remember feeling the pain in my arms and ribs, but somehow being immune to all of it. Maybe it was the shock?"

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. "The lights that were on in the car started to flicker and after a few minutes everything went dark. All of it. I was left on the side of the road in pitch black with my parents' dead bodies, and a kid I hadn't even known… I was all alone."

"Pen."

"No one came around that bend for five hours. Five long hours I sat on the side of the road in total darkness. The sounds of the forest, the – the smell of blood- "

She felt him grab onto her and pull her into his lap. "Penelope, baby, I'm so sorry," he whispered into her hair as she started to sob. "That's why you're deathly afraid of the dark."

"Yeah," she answered. "I don't sleep with the lights out. I have candles all around my apartment and flashlights on me at all times."

"What do you do when the power goes out?" he asked.

"I grabbed every candle I can and sit on the floor or on the bed with them circled around me and pray the lights will turn back on before the images come back."

"Jesus."

"I've, I've been trying to deal with it. I was doing really well a few years back, but then one night, I was at my ex's and the power went out. Instead of finding me a flash light, he thought it would be funny to mess with me. He said I needed to move on and let it go."

"You don't need to 'let it go'," Derek assured her. "He sounds like a jackass."

She nodded. "He thought it would be funny, that he could cure me and fix me. You know, he was the "popular" guy and was always trying to get a laugh. The life of the party. He was everyone's friend. Everyone wanted to be with him, and when he asked _me_ out I thought it was a dream come true. Me, chubby, Garcia, finally got herself the popular kid. But, instead of helping me when I needed him most he tried to make it a joke. He ran away from the bedroom and left me alone."

"The idiot. He left you alone in the pitch black?"

"Yeah," she whispered. "Before then, I was getting better. At night, I didn't have flashlights already turned on in case the power would go out during the night. I wasn't having as many night terrors."

"But it all came back?" Derek asked.

"Yeah."

"God, you were eighteen and… what you went through. And then your ex."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"You're sorry?" he asked. "Why are you sorry?"

"For the way I acted. My ex hated it when I acted like that. My second bag is still at the station, it has my flashlight in it and when-"

"Your ex is a fucking asshole and if I ever see him I'll beat the shit out of him."

She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "Thank you."

They were both quite as Derek continued to hold her. In all the years since that fateful night she had never felt as safe and secure as she did right now in his arms.

"Is that why you hate me so much? I remind you of your ex?" he asked.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thank you all! Your support means the world to me. It's been a crazy few months, even more so in the last week for me. Any good thoughts you can send my way, will be truly appreciated. I was invited to participate in something last week that could really be the catapult of my career.**

 **Fingers crossed!3**

 **Love,**

 **Polhop**

* * *

The room was quiet as the words he spoke sank in. Unfortunately, the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. But, now that they were out Derek wanted the answer. Penelope stiffened in his arms. Not wanting her to regress to her previous state, he started to gently rub his thumb against her arm, doing anything he could to make her feel comfortable. "It's none of my business," he whispered.

Silence filled the room.

Giving up, he gently pulled her closer to him. He'd get the answers eventually. He felt Penelope take a deep breath. "It's not so much as you remind me of him it's just-"

"You don't have to go on."

Penelope pulled away to look into his eyes. Derek's heart accelerated as he gazed back. Her eyes were wide, her cheeks red, and her hair was all askew. Damn. Had she _always_ looked this beautiful? His breathing picked up as she bit down onto her bottom lip. He did his best to hold back his groan.

In a whisper, she spoke, "I was unfair to you, Derek…"

His name on her lips sent shock waves through his soul.

"… I heard a little about you, watched you with others and I judged you. I judged you." She turned away from him. "I didn't mean to, it's just every time I looked at you, I saw him. I remembered that night he left me alone in the dark and then my-"

"The night with your parents comes rushing back," he continued for her. "Penelope-"

"No, Derek. I'm sorry. I should have never lumped you in with him. You've never gone out of your way to purposely hurt someone before. I should have given you a fair chance." She reached for his hand and squeezed it.

Her heartfelt words tore into him. She had gone through so much and was only trying to protect herself. And, if he were being honest with himself, he did give a bad first impression their initial couple of encounters. He could never fault her for doing whatever it took to keep herself safe, and if that was treating him the way she did, then so be it.

But, he could change their moving forward. This could be their chance to finally put everything behind them. Coworkers, friendship… maybe even more. But first, he'd have to do something he never willingly did.

Talking about his own past tore him apart, but he knew at this exact moment he had a choice. Taking a shuttering breath, he spoke his next words. "I watched my dad get murdered while I was a child," he remarked. He didn't think her eyes could go wider than they already were. Nevertheless, her continued. "I was reaching for a candy bar at the convince store by our apartment. Before I knew it, two masked me ran in trying to rob the place. My dad, instantly put his law enforcement background into action. When he went in for the take down…" Derek stopped remembered the moment as if it had happened yesterday. The pain was still there. It's what pushed him every day to fight for good and eliminate the evil. "He didn't know there was a third guy hiding. By the time help arrived it was too late."

Penelope moved closer to him instinctively. He didn't think it was possible but having her body firmly pressed against his own somehow made the next sentence come out smoother than it ever had before. "After that I started going down a bad path. My mom wanted to do something to help me so she signed me up to start going to the community center."

Penelope pulled him into her arms. Her face going into his neck. "Oh god, Derek, I am so sorry."

Bringing his hand to the back of her head, he held her there, feeling her warmth and compassion flow through her to himself. He looked out into the dark room only illuminated by the candles. "There was a bad man there, Penelope. Someone that should have _never_ been in charge of children. At first, I didn't know what he was doing to me was wrong. I mean, I know it wasn't right, but he kept telling me it's how a _dad_ would treat their kids once they reached a certain age…"

XXXX

Penelope pulled away from his neck. Without even a second thought she threw her leg over his waist positioning herself onto of him. She stared into his eyes. She didn't even try and hide the tears that were now silently streaming down her face. "Derek, if you're telling me… that… if that…"

A small nod answered her question.

Her heart plummeted at the image of a child being hurt by someone that was there to watch over and protect them. Anger started to build inside of her. She clenched her hands at her sides. "I'll kill'em. You give me his name right now, Morgan and I will do everything in my power to make his life a living hell. And, you know better than anyone would know I can do that. I will tear him up and spit him out and then I will do it all over again. You better let me know where I can find him because I can't wait to get my hands around his-"

She was cut off when Derek's lips were suddenly on hers. Her body stiffened, before she melted into his embrace. Within seconds, she was being lowed gently onto her back as Derek controlled their kiss. And, for the first time in her life she opened herself to someone's. Somehow, she felt so safe with him. She let him possess her. However, just as fast as the kiss had started he pulled away. Preaching himself so he was leaning above her, he stared down at her. "Penelope."

Her heart was racing, her breathing erratic.

"I've- I-… Penelope, no one has ever done that." His voice was ragged with emotions.

 _Oh no, what did I do? Did I bring up something I shouldn't have? Should I not have told an FBI agent I planned on killing someone?_

"Fuck!" he growled. His hands were behind her back pulling her into his arms, nearly suffocating her. _Oh god, was he going to kill me now?_

"Few people know that story, Garcia, but every single one of them have looked at me with pity and sorrow rather than rage and an offer to dispose of the man that hurt me."

"Of course, I will dispose of him. Derek Morgan, you better tell me his name before I-"

He pushed her shoulders back a fraction of an inch before cutting her off with another kiss. Her head was spinning. Pulling out of the kiss, she looked into his eyes. "Derek."

"He's already in jail." He kissed her again before pulling away. "I'd say I was sorry, but I'm not. Penelope, even now you are looking at me with anything but pity."

"I don't pity you, Derek. I would never pity anyone for something that happened in their past. I know all too well about how people pity someone when something tragic happens in their life." Her words fell upon the room.

Instead of fighting what she was feeling she stared into his eyes as the words sunk in. Since meeting Derek, she now saw him in a different light. They both had been through so much in their lives.

That fateful night with her parents destroyed her, then her ex had taken the little bit of recovery she had accomplished and smashed that, too.

But she wasn't alone. Derek not only watched his father be killed, a horrible, horrible man had taken away the innocents of a young child.

She glanced around the dark room and for the first time since that night, the dark didn't completely scare her.

 _AN: Well, now that was an emotion little tell all. Let me know what you think._


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hey All, I promise you I haven't given up on any of my stories. I've just been very very busy. Not only that, I don't watch the show anymore. So it is a tad harder to get back into the headspace I need to be in to write. That being said, I will try and do better and getting these updates out. I'm genuinely sorry for it being so long between updates. I really really promise to try and do better.**

 **Thank you for always sticking by me and reading these stories. It means a lot.**

* * *

Derek woke with Penelope wrapped around his body. It was still dark in the cabin.

He wasn't sure if it was night, or if the storm was still realigning its ugly head. But, with Penelope in his arms, he didn't really care.

Feeling her move, he glanced down at her. She was sleeping soundly with her arms tightly around his waist. She clung to him almost as if her life depended on it. He'd be lying if he said he didn't like it.

Peeling his eyes from her, Derek looked to the ceiling and did his best to make sense of the events that had transpired. If anyone had told him a week ago he'd be in bed with Penelope Garcia after not only hearing her past but also spilling his own he would have laughed in their face and then probably punched them.

Yet, here he was.

And somehow, in all the years since everything had happened, he'd never felt more at peace than he did right now.

"Mornin'," Penelope said as she blinked her eyes. "Wait, is it morning?"

"I don't know," Derek answered honestly.

Penelope starched along his body causing heat to rise inside of him. When she looked into his eyes, she looked dazed. "I don't think I have ever slept so soundly before."

Funny. He felt the same way.

Penelope pushed herself to the seated position, even in the dark of the room, he could see her cheeks heat. "I'm sure you'd rather be back in your own room. If you just leave me some candles, I'll be okay." She turned away from him.

"I don't think so." No way. Not after what they had shared. He wasn't ready to fully go into it, but he was damn sure he wasn't going back to whatever they were before.

Instead, Derek let his body take over. He reached for her, pulling Penelope to him before kissing her.

Pulling away her eyes held surprise. "Wh-what now are we kissing buddies?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Maybe."

Penelope moved out of his grasp. "I don't think that's wise."

When she looked into her eyes, it was as if he was punched in the gut. There was so much hurt confusion and vulnerability there. "Pen…"

She turned away. "We were ruled by our emotions before."

He stared at her. Her face was turned, the way she let her hair hid her features. Even in the low light of the candle, he could see her wringing her hands together. He saw the shame in her. That's when he put two and two together. "I'm not him. Nor will I ever be him. Penelope, last night I told you things about me I never tell anyone. I imagine you did the same with me. Yes, our emotions were high, but I can guarantee you I don't do anything without meaning it." He watched her as his brain started working overtime. "You don't trust me."

She snapped her head towards his.

XXXX

"It's not that I don't trust you, Morgan." Penelope straightened her back. God what was wrong with her. When she woke up in Derek's arms, she hadn't known what had come over her. It was all too new and too fast. Just yesterday she was ready to murder him. But now… Now she was stopping herself from kissing him.

Kissing Derek.

Derek freakin' Morgan.

That would have never registered in her mind, even for a millisecond before, but yet….. She closed her eyes trying to make sense of everything.

"They why are you pulling away from me?"

She stilled, pushing his words away.

With her eyes closed, she was transported back to the accident. The smell of blood filled her nose. The sound of the broken cars echoed through her head. She mindlessly reached for her arm holding it to her body as the pain slowly seeped into her all over. This happened from time to time. Especially after a power outage. It usually would take her hours to register it was all in her mind.

She felt herself being moved. When she felt a thumb brush against her cheek, her eyes opened. It only too her a few seconds to realize where she was.

She was back in Derek's lap.

"We don't have to talk about it," he whispered. He pulled her arm away from her body before lowering his head to kiss it.

Penelope watched as Derek brought his head back to hers and stared into his eyes. She'd never had someone so caring about her past. And the fact that it was Derek Morgan still blew her mind. Then there was his horrible past.

She never knew the person she despised the most could be just like her.

She scolded herself. Here she was falling apart from her tragic past, all the while his was just as bad. If not worse. Not only did he see his father murdered, he was abused.

Derek didn't have an irrational fear of the dark, no. Instead, he took what happened to him and chose to fight evil.

AS she fought herself to regain her composure. She felt more tears slip down her cheeks.

"I'm broken," she whispered into the still of the room.

Derek cupper her chin in his hands. "I'm broken too."

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 _AN: Once again I am so sorry it's been so long. I promise to be better at updates. A lot of things have happened in my life, and I'm still trying to make sense of everything. I have not given up. There will be more._


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